Summary
Arguably best known for itsPersonaseries,Atlusis one of the world’s most respected developers when it comes to delivering top quality turn-based RPGs that keep the genre fresh. ForAtlus, 2023 was all about re-releases as the company brought some fan-favorite titles over to new platforms.
Atlus appears to be gearing up for a more exciting year in 2024. There are some known upcoming releases, and the rumor mill has been active, too. It can sometimes be tricky to separate fiction from fact. Regardless, Atlus has officially confirmed a few things of note for 2024 so far.
Atlus' 2024 Game Release Schedule
As the new year gets underway, there is ever so little information about what else Atlus is working on. Fans may have caught some rumors about unannounced Atlus games in recent months, but it looks like Atlus' heavy-hitters for 2024 areMetaphor: ReFantazioandPersona 3 Reload.
While the inner workings of the company are largely mysterious, Atlus is known to have three internal divisions. The first and oldest, Team Maniax, handles theoriginalMegami Tenseifranchise, among others. P-Studio, as the name implies, makes games for thePersonafranchise exclusively. The third is Studio Zero, and it is responsible for creating new IPs like the upcomingMetaphor: ReFantazio.
It is unlikely that Atlus is working on more than three or four games at any given time. P-Studio will presumably focus onPersona 6after the release ofPersona 3 Reload,while Studio Zero is working onMetaphor. Whatever Team Maniax is working on remains a mystery. There are rumors, but no evidence or official information to back them up. Fans will have to wait until Atlus is ready to announce future titles.
Persona 3 Reload
At the moment,P3Ris one of the few titles by Atlus officially announced for 2024, not counting games that will be published by the company. The other is the brand-new IP,Metaphor: ReFantazio.Persona 3 Reloadis set to reimagine the original gameusing Unreal Engine 4, whileMetaphor: ReFantaziois something completely new. Beyond this, there is little but dubious information and guesswork as to what Atlus could add to 2024.
Don’t Expect Persona 6 In 2024
Persona 6is certain to hit both brick-and-mortar and digital storefronts someday, but this is unlikely to happen in 2024. Atlus has a handful of games planned that should fill the void as fans await thePersonaseries' next entry.Rumors have suggested thatPersona 6will arrive in 2025, but until Atlus itself actually announces the game and provides a release date, this shouldn’t be taken as fact.
Persona 6might not arrive until at least 2026, which would mark 10 years since the original release ofPersona 5. This will be the longest waitPersonafans have ever had for an all-new game either way if the sixth entry isn’t released in 2024; there were eight years betweenPersona 4and5. Regardless, 2024 is all aboutPersona 3 Reload.
Keep An Eye On Metaphor ReFantazio
Even withoutPersona 6, Atlus fans have a few things to look forward to. Arguably the most exciting game from the developer in 2024 isMetaphor: ReFantazio, a brand-new IP that appears to beaPersona-style RPGwith some more action-oriented mechanics and a medieval fantasy setting.
Metaphor: ReFantaziois being developed by Atlus' Studio Zero, the creative department that is lead bydirector Katsura Hashino. He and other Studio Zero personnel are company veterans, with tenures going as far back as 1994’sShin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner.This is an exciting title because it gives the seasonedShin Megami TenseiandPersonadirector the opportunity to create something entirely new without the burden of having to adhere to the formula he helped establish with both of these celebrated franchises. It is scheduled to be released in fall 2024.
Other Atlus 2024 Games
Persona 5: The Phantom Xis in the works for mobile platforms, but it is being developed by China-based Black Wings Game Studio, and it has not been given a release date as yet. It may not even release outside of China, but is reportedly entering its third beta testing stage in January 2024.
The other rumored title, only referred to by the code name “Asa,” is supposedly aPersonaparty game. While the rumor seems plausible, it will need to stand up to the test of time and be confirmed by the developer before it is taken too seriously. Thiscould be the title one Atlus developer teasedrecently, but it has also been suggested that it could be a game related somehow toShin Megami Tensei 5. The developer in question is Eiji Ishida, who is part of Atlus' 1st Creative Department, otherwise known as Team Maniax.
